Goodbye Roger, and Thanks

I grew up in a pretty rural area. The town I lived in (and do once again) had no movie theater. The next town over had one and another town twenty minutes away had two. There was a drive in theater across the Hudson river but you had to really want it to make the trek. Probably my earliest memory of going to a movie was seeing The Spy Who Loved Me at that drive in, followed very closely by Star Wars.

The VCR only started becoming an accessible thing during my teen years, so for a long time I was limited to that tiny smattering of theaters and whatever came on TV (we had four channels) for movie watching. But I loved movies dearly. Each visit to a theater was a precious thing. Somewhere in this part of my life I discovered the show Sneak Previews, featuring the film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. I was completely fascinated by the show and watched it every chance I got. For one thing, I loved the bickering between the two. But most important, they opened up the world of movies to me in a way that wasn't possible in my tiny corner of the world. Most of the movies they talked about would never come to our theaters but I was able to know about them because of Siskel & Ebert. Their passion and knowledge made a lasting impression, acting as a bridge to a time later in life when I would be able to start watching a broader selection of movies. They showed me that movies were more than just a way to pass the evening. Movies were art. They could be trashy and shabby or thoughtful and refined but either way, they were art.

In the late nineties, now living in Charlottesville, I started this site as a bit of a joke. It was a collection of snarky comments made by friends and coworkers at our weekly trip to the movies. Slowly my comments grew into actual written pieces. Most notably, I wrote a lengthy (for the time) review of Patch Adams, defending it against Ebert's less than kind review. It was the first time I really opened up and wrote at length and with a purpose. In retrospect, I was going after Ebert because he seemed to be trashing the idea of acting goofy to make sick kids in the hospital feel better. My dad, a magician, used to do just that and it seemed a cheap dig from the critic. He was probably right about the movie though. But Ebert had served as inspiration for the second time in my life, this time kicking me into gear as a writer.

A year later he came to the Virginia Film Festival to host one of his famous events where he and an audience would spend three days watching a movie and discussing it. The movie was The Birds and the idea was simple. We watched the movie and anyone in the audience could yell stop and the movie would be stopped. That person would then comment on something in the movie and the entire group would discuss it. Often Ebert was the one to yell stop and would then talk about Hitchcock's style and quirks. Even though I was a pretty serious movie fan, I was amazed at how much I wasn't noticing in a movie. It was eye opening and hugely educational. As a bonus, Ebert would get there early every day and talk about movies in general, answering questions from the crowd as he went. I can still clearly remember him talking about Ozu quite a bit, which was the first time I had heard of that filmmaker.

After one of the three sessions, I went up to talk to him in person. He was very generous with his time and recommended several books that I could read to learn more about movies. I thanked him and left the auditorium, proud of myself for not getting tongue tied and goofy in the presence of a guy I considered a bit of a hero of mine. My next stop was the bathroom. Normally, I'd leave a detail like that out of a story. But as I stood at the urinal, taking care of business, Ebert came in and did the same, right next to me. We didn't talk or acknowledge each other in any way, because men have rules about these sorts of things. But I was intensely aware of who I was peeing next to. And, strangely enough, it was a bit of a lesson as well. Prior to this film festival, my experience with meeting anyone connected to the movie industry in any way was exactly zero. In the course of a week I got the chance to talk to Stan Winston about The Lost World, shake Anthony Hopkins' hand after a screening of Silence of the Lambs and have a really ordinary moment with the great film critic. The first two left me a bit star struck. The third told me that no matter what these guys did to blow my mind with their work, they still had to pee like a normal person. I've never been particularly goofy around a famous person since.

All of this comes to mind as I learned this evening of Ebert's passing. Usually when a famous person dies I have a minor moment of sadness and move on. I may have enjoyed their work greatly but I didn't know them personally and that keeps a level of emotional distance. Occasionally, I feel real grief and a sense of loss because that person's work was a serious influence, something that helped shape me as a person. People like Jim Henson, Charles M. Schulz, Douglas Adams, George Carlin or Neil Armstrong. When they passed away, it hit me hard, almost like losing a close friend. Now I'm adding Roger Ebert's name to that list. His was an important voice in my life, one that pushed me, inspired me and always intrigued me. I'm going to miss that voice in my life.

Goodbye Roger. And thanks.

Back home

Yes, I know, I haven't written for a few days now. But I have a valid excuse. Travel. The last few days were spent traveling to and from Ohio to visit family.

That out of the way, let's open a new topic around here. Something that doesn't have to do with my emo musings on my writing habits. Even I get bored of that topic eventually. It's time to talk Oscars.

In the past I've put up one giant post a day or two before the big day with all my predictions. This year I want do this a bit differently. I've been working my way through the nominated films and have now seen enough to speak intelligently about certain categories. So I'll do them one at a time, saving the categories I haven't seen all of yet to the end.

Up first is the category I closed out first, animated feature. I have two young boys, we go to see all the animated movies, it wasn't hard.

The nominees are:
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It-Ralph

Two trends pop out here right away. Three of these movies are stop motion animation. And three of these movies are made by Disney.

3D computer animation has been the dominant form for years, so it's a pleasant surprise that the quirkier form that was often called claymation was such a big player this year. I don't think this represents a long term trend but anything that gives us variety is always welcome.

Disney's dominance is less of a surprise. The Mouse House is a long time giant in the field and has been growing steadily better since Pixar chief John Lasseter took over their animation department. The big question is which movie the studio wants to get behind. Studios know that Oscar wins tend to inflate a movie's income. So they will lobby voters in hopes of collecting a statue. With three of their films nominated, it doesn't make sense for Disney to push all three. That amounts to competing with themselves.

My guess is that they'll pick Wreck-It-Ralph to push. Pixar has shelves of these awards already, Disney not so much. And since Wreck-It-Ralph was their biggest hit with audiences, it stands the best chance of winning.

Now, the two non-Disney movies are my favorites in the category. But experience has told me that my tastes don't tend to match those of the Academy's. Which is almost enough to knock them out of the running. Except for one thing. The Pirates! was made by Aardman Animation and the Academy had long been fond of the creators of Wallace and Gromit.

So it would appear the race is down to The Pirates! and Wreck-It-Ralph. One of which would be my first choice and one of which would be my last choice. The game is correctly picking what the Academy will select, so the obvious choice is Wreck-It-Ralph.